| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
How damn careful you are on a motorcycle. You can do EVERYTHING within your power and you are still a sitting duck. For the first time . . . . "driving distracted" has eclipsed alcohol and drugs as a contributing factor in accidents. I'm the first to admit I shouldn't have taken this photo while driving . . . but I've seen 2 motorcycles CREAMED the last week . . . with zero warning . . . by texting drivers.  And this is in my hometown (Topeka,a KS) newspaper today. NOTE: Kansas does not have a helmet law and lots of accidents that should be "walk away from it" turn out fatal. Shame 'tis.  | ||
| Ceejay |
when I lived in cbus, OH I was riding down the highway and saw a guy driving with his knees, texting. I couldn't do anything to get his attention - I did try, so I just sped up and got off at the next exit. Same exit, different day, I put my foot on the front fender of a teen's car who was texting and wandered into my lane. I ended up getting rear ended by an older lady who was on the phone - she was doing about 40 according to the police report - I was at a dead stop waiting on traffic to make a left hand turn on a two lane road. That was 6 yrs. ago. A friend of mine has a 20 something kid who has wrecked 3 different cars due to texting. It certainly don't look like it's getting any better. Scary, and I'm not sure we as a people can stop it... | ||
| Jaimec |
I know how I'd resolve it. I'd pass a law that the driver-side airbag be replaced by a 10 inch, sharpened steel SPIKE permanently welded into place so it can't be removed. I'd also remove the driver's side seat belt and shoulder harness. The passengers should get the benefit of seat belts and airbags. The driver? He/She needs a CONSTANT reminder of just what the consequences of their inattention will be... | ||
| Hootowl |
A cell phone jammer in every new vehicle. There's enough new car churn to black out most roadways. | ||
| Court |
You and I could run on the same ticket . . . I've long been an advocate of motorcycle insurance being predicated on proper use of a proper helmet. No helmet? . . no problem . . let your family sell your house to pay the medical bills. We make choices. You are free to make your's as I am to make mine. I just don't like paying for your poor ones. | ||
| Strokizator |
California just raised the fine for texting while driving from $20 to $50 and subsequent violations go up to $100. That ought to save thousands of lives  I mean, who would risk killing somebody if it was going to cost you $50? | ||
| Trevd |
This fine here in Ontario is something like $400... that still doesn't stop people. Now they just hide their phone on their lap, or near the gear shifter... So I get to observe all sorts of people constantly looking down at their crotch or their knees. | ||
| Court |
It's contributing to an entirely new class of accident . . . in the past there used to . . . generally . . . be some evidence of that "oh shit" series of nanoseconds . . .skid marks and so forth . . right before a crash. Now . . . we are hitting things at full speed with no warning what so ever. I've taken several photos lately (yes, I know . . ) of crashes where like 7 cars just did the accordion trick in the middle lane of the Garden State Parkway. Looks funny to see 7 cars all conjoined like siamese twins . . . . If you haven't been in NJ . . . . it gives new meaning to the term "bad driver". I keep a dash cam (Canon G12) going just as a means of self defense. | ||
| Oldog |
Well Court it is pervasive to be sure, I pass several every day I ride to work. but would a 10K fine or a year in jail work? treat it like a dui? the Russians are on to some thing with the dash cam on when in the car yea? | ||
| Ceejay |
I just got back from Kenya and Egypt. Guys riding motorbikes with 50 gallons of water strapped to it in various configs while talking on the cell. Speeds are a lot slower over there due to congestion, but folks still end up dead. I think it's the whole "won't happen to me" mentality. Here I think it has to do with our speed, and cars are so good that they don't realize how fast they are moving, until they aren't. Russians all have dash cams - prevalence of cheap vodka will do that I guess… we are our own worst enemies. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
It's not just phone use. I've witnessed drivers, at speed on I-95, reading the paper and applying makeup. | ||
| Two_seasons |
The Garden State Parkway has never been safe. Lots of people and lots of crazy driving. I once observed a semi w/trailer within 5 feet of a VW bug bumper doing 70mph on the GSP. That was back in the 1970's. Different year, different distraction.  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Mobile phones are EVERYWHERE. Newspapers..makeup...coffee...far less frequent. Name someone who doesn't own a cell phone. I DARE ya. I will admit, I love the voice recognition feature in my new Jeep. But objectively...I know it is still a distraction. Physically, not so much. Mentally? Yup. But I tell ya...that Stebel on the Ulysses, when it's eight inches from a douchebag's window who's not paying attention...it's FUN!!! (not that I'm more than a little sadistic...) Just gotta pay attention. Enough for yourself. And the guy next to you. And the guy in front of you. And the guy in front of THEM. Tiring? Sure. Beats "dead". | ||
| Sifo |
I keep thinking about getting a dash cam because of this stuff. Driving for a job has me seeing way too much. Who makes a good dash cam that can turn on with the ignition power and will continually overwrite the memory keeping the latest hours of footage? Here in Illinois, cell phones are banned in school zones and construction zones. Even hands free. That, in theory, limits it's use in huge ways. The law is completely ignored though. I hate that cars are incorporating these distractions into their technology now. I also hate the commercials you see for new cars to help distracted drivers, showing the driver doing everything BUT driving. I'm really holding my breath as we are contemplating cars that drive for you. I wonder how that will workout in the real world, mixing it up with driver who will cut you off at the drop of a hat. | ||
| Court |
I'd love to have some information on which of the "Go-Pro" (I think that's the name) digital cameras is best for mounting in a car. I suspect it's only a matter of time before we see cellphone service restrict with the unit in motion . . .OR . . . (like some jurisdictions are doing at present) the phone seized in the event of an accident and polled. If it was in use prior to or during the accident fines go up big . . like to $25,000. You'll be seeing more restaurants with the wall sheeting that effectively blocks cell service as well. I keep thinking a good way to solve the debt crisis would be to go back to the rates of the "good old days" when we used to pay about $1.50 a minute . . . I can see one of these high school kids getting a $2,900 bill . .that'd get some attention | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Check this out. It's real, not a mock-up or a photoshop special. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Quote from Ratbuell...Name someone who doesn't own a cell phone. I DARE ya. That would be me, my wife, and our children. If we need a phone, all we have to do is ask one of our friends if we can use theirs  | ||
| Reepicheep |
You don't need the GoPro Court, here is what I am using. Works fine, though not quite enough resolution to read plates in all circumstances. It does audio also, so I just read the plate numbers out loud to the camera when I want them "recorded". http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GIDXG86/ref=oh _aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Here is footage from it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzHDSsOn--Y | ||
| Court |
Done | ||
| Etennuly |
I live in a rural area on a divided 55 mph highway. I own a quarter of a mile of road frontage that has a crown of a small hill in the road in the center of it. I have been here fifteen years and have had an average of one wreck per year within the reach of our frontage on our straight, wide, clean, divided rural farm/wooded area four lane. The last two have involved people texting. Most of the others were falling asleep incidences, or critter crossings, and one diabetic coma. Frequently they land in my field or yard, or need pulled out of the trees of the berm/median. I have witnessed two other texting wrecks in the past years on the back road behind my place. One was a teen new driver crashed bad while texting. She went over a six foot embankment, through a barbed wire fence and rolled over a rock pile into a power pole in a pasture. I saw it happen from my place about 3/4 mile across the neighbor's pasture. I asked the fire chief how they got here so fast, because I just locked my shop, hopped in my truck, and drove around the farm roads to get there and met the fire truck. It was funny when the fire chief told me that the girl was texting. He said the girl's mother called them while SHE was still texting her teen driver daughter!  The mother described, screaming and crying, the whole accident to the chief while he was in route. TEXTING takes TEAMWORK! | ||
| Trevd |
A couple of months ago I was stopped at an intersection with 3 lanes going straight, and one left turning lane. The light was red. I was probably about 10 cars back from the light. The left turning lane got the advance green, so they proceeded to go. Someone in the lane immediately to the right of the left turn lane, also stepped on the gas, slamming into the back of a GIANT WHITE DELIVERY TRUCK, who of course wasn't moving cause his light was still red. And when I say slammed I mean it. The front end of that vehicle was nicely scrunched. Windows in the car were tinted, but the only thing I can think of was that the driver had his or her head down texting, and saw out of his or her peripheral vision that cars were moving, so stepped on the gas without even looking in front of the freaking car. It was, without a doubt, the stupidest thing I have ever seen. (Message edited by trevd on October 11, 2014) | ||
| Vtpeg |
Hands free law went into effect here October 1. I'm a big fan but still grabbed my phone when it rang on a rural rd. I usually let it ring in more urban settings. Our local daily paper spent a day or so gauging compliance. One of the photos, look closely.  Also sadly, the first offender of our no texting law from several years ago- WALTHAM, Vt. (AP) -- A 20-year-old man in Vermont could soon be lighter in his wallet for allegedly sending a text message over his cell phone while riding his motorcycle. Vermont State Trooper Andrew Laise said he saw Joshua Kelly riding his motorcycle with one hand on his handle bars and one hand on a cell phone. The trooper said he could see Kelly using his thumb to hit buttons on his cell phone while he was riding on Route 7 in Waltham. Police say after he was stopped, Kelly admitted he had been texting his boss while riding his motorcycle. He was issued a traffic ticket for texting while riding, which carries a fine of up to $156 for a first offense. | ||
| Froggy |
Regarding dash cams, it is best to do it right the first time rather than cheaping out or half assing it with a phone or gopro. This is the cam I use http://www.amazon.com/Finevu-CR-500HD-Vehicle-Reco rder-1920x1080p/dp/B00AIBEBZG/ Plus the GPS addon - http://www.amazon.com/FineVu-FG-100-CR-500HD-CR-30 0HD-Black/dp/B00CC2Z4IW/ Works fantastic, even when you have assholes who change lanes without looking - I do plan on upgrading eventually, some of the newer cameras do both front and back. http://www.amazon.com/Blackvue-DR750LW-2CH-Wi-Fi-T ouchscreen-Recorder/dp/B00L9MU17A/ | ||
| Ratbuell |
Buy an earbud for each car. Buy a USB car charger. Keep the earbud plugged into the car all the time, so it's always there. $40/car, tops. Handsfree "problem" solved. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Froggy's camera is nice also. Court, I spent a little extra time and found a wire up in the roof of my Saab that was meant for a cell phone external mic, and it had switched 12v on it already, so I was even able to wire into that and just have a 3" wire coming out by the mirror and going right to the camera. That camera may leave "orphan" files if it looses power, which use up usable space for the rolling overwrite. It will still keep recording, it just shortens how much history you keep. I just pull the memory card every couple months and check and clear it. | ||
| Jaimec |
It's funny... I JUST read about these things and it sounds like it'd be PERFECT for what you guys are discussing: http://www.polaroid.com/cube A lot cheaper than a GoPro, too. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Some of the trucks at work are now equipped with a system that records in HD 360°. So not only does it record everything going on outside, it records everything inside too. I was told "It only records the 3min before and after a trigger event." "So it's constantly filming then." I replied. "No, I just told you, it only films the 3 minutes before & the 3 minutes after." "Time travel! Cool!" says I with a bright smile & walked away. How can you deal with folk who don't even understand the technology they're responsible for. My fear in all this is the 1984 syndrome, "Big Brother is watching you" Once it becomes widely accepted, vehicle manufacturers will integrate it into the vehicle systems. How long before, gps, onboard camera, alcotest, etc, are mandatorily linked into "Onstar" or some similar system. Any infractions they'll just debit your bank account direct & send you your notice of prosecution by email or text to your vehicle touchscreen. Am I wrong? | ||
| Reepicheep |
That Polaroid cube looks cool. You can get a go-pro knock off from China for about the same price that has a lot more mounts. Not sure which would be better, I haven't played with either. | ||
| Court |
>>>Once it becomes widely accepted, vehicle manufacturers will integrate it into the vehicle systems. They are ready have. The ECM pretty much keeps track of more than most folks can imagine. In addition some insurers, like Progresssive's "Sano Shot", have a program where you plug their add-on module to your ECM and your insurance is adjusted for the way you drive. (kinda) I had an interesting case a couple years ago . . . while coming up the Garden State Parkway from The Bay Head House . . . I was stopped. I know wheat the female trooper stopped me for . . . (unrelated) but she walks up to the car and sees I have no seat belt. I explain that I took it off to get my wallet as she was walking to the car and that I would NEVER (having once rolled a car 3 times at high speed on the Kansas Turnpike) drive without a seat belt. She writes the ticket. I get pissy. Guess what ? ? ? the ECM, that function that accounts for the lights and bells, knows when the drivers seat belt is fastened and not fastened and the time and speed at which the state occurred. My car had just decelerated, reached a speed of zero, had the transmission put in park and the seat belt unlatched. :-) | ||
| Sifo |
Some of the trucks at work are now equipped with a system that records in HD 360°. So not only does it record everything going on outside, it records everything inside too. I was told "It only records the 3min before and after a trigger event." "So it's constantly filming then." I replied. "No, I just told you, it only films the 3 minutes before & the 3 minutes after." "Time travel! Cool!" says I with a bright smile & walked away. How can you deal with folk who don't even understand the technology they're responsible for. Not time travel. Also not saving data all the time. It will keep a rolling three minutes that will be saved by the "trigger event" most likely a g-force sensor. There is the legal question of who can access the video in an accident. I don't know the answer to that at this point. Our buses have cameras on the inside, front and rear. Enough memory to go back numerous months of use. I hate that the company has been known to use this to essentially spy on our driving habits, even though they claim to not do this. At the same time, it was nice to have when a 5th grader was trying to get me fired for sexually harassing her. I wasn't the first one she pulled this on either. Like most technology, it's got it's good and bad sides. |
